


like an island

by ficklish



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/F, Hufflepuff!Naruto, Hufflepuff!Sakura, M/M, Pining, Slytherin!Ino, Slytherin!Sasuke, also some friendship and commiserating i guess, no profreading we die like mne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 21:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13257159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficklish/pseuds/ficklish
Summary: “You’re cheering for the wrong team.” Sasuke’s voice was nearly drowned out by the cheers around them.Ino sniffed and sat primly back down. “When our team does something worth cheering for, I’ll cheer for them. Until then, I’ll give credit where credit’s due. ‘Sides,” she glanced over at Sasuke, a knowing smirk on her lips, “it’s not like you care, Mr ‘Quidditch is a dumb sport’. I believe your exact words were, ‘Even idiots can chase after a ball, it doesn’t take any particular skill.’”Sasuke conceded the point with a noncommittal grunt. Everything about his posture suggested boredom, from the way he leaned back in his seat to the heaviness of his eyelids. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere else than on the crowded Slytherin stands, watching the first quidditch match of the season.Except, his eyes never once left the pitch.And Ino knew exactly why. It was the same reason she was enduring the press of bodies and the deafening clamour of voices all around them. Same reason…but they were here for different people.Ino and Sasuke attend the first quidditch match of their fifth year and pine after their respective crushes.





	like an island

**Author's Note:**

> happy new year!! i hope 2018 treats you well! 
> 
> i feel like 2008 me has just possessed my body and is writing all the naruto fic i wanted to write then but didn't have the self-discipline to (or lack thereof really, since i'm putting off uni work)
> 
> anyway, i got some bad news this week and i just wanted to write some pining to make myself feel better
> 
> also, will i ever post a fic at a time that's not 3am??? i guess not

Ino was going to lose her voice, but at this point she couldn’t care less. As Sakura deflected another bludger, sending it straight into a sixth year Slytherin chaser and making him lose possession of the quaffle, Ino shot to her feet, hands thrown in the air. Her cheer was the only one of its kind amongst the chorus of boos echoing off the Slytherin stands. Ino ignored the looks some of the younger Slytherins were shooting her—from confused to downright betrayed; they would get used to her antics soon enough, the same way the rest of the fifth to seventh years had.

The chaser—Neji—regained his balance quickly, pulling off an impressive manoeuvre that sent him flying up the side of the Slytherin stands, wind whipping in his wake. He shot off after a Hufflepuff chaser like a demented hound from hell.

“You’re cheering for the wrong team.” Sasuke’s voice was nearly drowned out by the cheers around them.

Ino sniffed and sat primly back down. “When our team does something worth cheering for, I’ll cheer for them. Until then, I’ll give credit where credit’s due. ‘Sides,” she glanced over at Sasuke, a knowing smirk on her lips, “it’s not like you care, Mr ‘Quidditch is a dumb sport’. I believe your exact words were, ‘Even idiots can chase after a ball, it doesn’t take any particular skill.’”

Sasuke conceded the point with a noncommittal grunt. Everything about his posture suggested boredom, from the way he leaned back in his seat to the heaviness of his eyelids. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere else than on the crowded Slytherin stands, watching the first quidditch match of the season.

Except, his eyes never once left the pitch.

And Ino knew exactly why. It was the same reason she was enduring the press of bodies and the deafening clamour of voices all around them. Same reason…but they were here for different people.

She followed his gaze to the pitch, where a golden streak burst through the low-hanging clouds and darted over the stands like a living arc of lightning. Once an outcast, now Hufflepuff’s golden boy, Uzumaki Naruto, was a sight to behold as he blazed across the pitch in pursuit of the snitch, ducking and weaving around bludgers and players alike with an efficiency borne of daring. He seemed to have zero regard for his personal safety as he angled his broom mid-turn and nosedived straight at the pitch, only to pull up at the last moment and loop backwards after the snitch. The shock of his momentum ripped blades of grass from the earth. Both of his hands were outstretched, gloved fingers just a hair’s breadth from the frantic flutter of the snitch’s wings. He was hanging off his broom by the strength of his thighs alone, keeping balance with his ankles hooked across each other over the bristles; Sasuke was probably having a field day with _that_ mental image. 

She found herself on the edge of her seat, clutching the bench so hard she was sure her nails would leave indents. She didn’t have to look to know Sasuke was equally enraptured. She was sure he’d stopped breathing at this point, along with the rest of the spectators.

The entire field was silent, or maybe it was just that Ino couldn’t hear anything above her heartbeat in her ears, speeding up as Naruto got closer, closer, _closer_ –

He crashed into the base of the faculty stands, the force of the impact throwing him off his broom and onto the ground, where he rolled a good ten feet before coming to a stop flat on his face.

“Naruto!” Sakura’s voice cut over the referee’s whistle, tight with concern. She was already zipping across the field toward him, the rest of the Hufflepuff team hot on her heels. Even Neji was hurrying to Naruto’s side, dismounting at a height that probably did a number on his knees but he barely seemed to notice as he closed the remaining distance between them.

Maybe it was Sakura’s voice that got to him, or maybe he’d just needed a moment to catch his breath, but then Naruto was rolling onto his back, grin far too triumphant for a boy with what looked like a broken nose. It became apparent why a second later when, grin pinching into a grimace—and Ino guessed he’d probably sprained his hand too—he lifted his arm and there, peeking out from between his fingers, was the delicate, metallic curve of the snitch’s wings.

The Slytherin seeker, Suigetsu, never even stood a chance.

The Hufflepuff stands exploded in celebration, Naruto’s name ringing out across the field, and where the other stands might’ve usually booed, there was silence. No one, rival or not, could begrudge Naruto his well-earned victory.

Especially not when the boy in question was currently locked in a painful-looking chokehold.

“Pull that kind of reckless stunt again and I _will_ kill you, do you understand?” Sakura yelled, loud enough that Ino could hear her over the sounds of the mass exodus of students making their way down the stands, either heading back to the castle or converging on the field. She shook Naruto so hard that Ino feared his head might just pop off his neck.

“Idiot,” Sasuke breathed. Ino turned to regard him and saw that he was already on his feet, likely from when Naruto slammed into the stands. His lips were quirked in a private smile, and something that very much resembled pride shone fiercely in his eyes.

“Gonna congratulate him?” She said, bumping her shoulder against his.

He met her gaze, and the fondness that softened his features a second ago was already tucked away where prying eyes couldn’t reach. He lifted his chin, a challenge.

“Going to congratulate her?” He shot back, ever the Slytherin, and turned pointedly to where Sakura stood vibrating with happiness amongst the sea of yellow. Ino watched as she threw her free hand around Lee, careful not to jostle the arm that was supporting Naruto. There was a patch of mud on her cheek, probably from hugging Naruto, and her hair was a mess, windblown and sweaty, falling all over her forehead and into her eyes. Her grin was blinding, even from this distance, and Ino felt the emotion she’d long since acknowledged but never dared voice out swell to bursting in her chest.

All of a sudden, it felt too big for her skin, and she looked quickly away before she could do something stupid like profess her feelings from the stands for Sakura and the rest of the world to hear.

“Well played,” she said, narrowing her eyes at Sasuke. She was awarded with a smirk but there was no real humour in it.

After all, they were in the same boat.

For Slytherins, bravery often meant doing something because the goal outweighed the fear and risk. But it seemed neither one of them could be sure of the outcome, and so they kept their feelings shoved in pockets way too small, in hearts growing heavy as the years passed.

Ino couldn’t be sure if it was the same for Sasuke when he was around Naruto, but she always felt in danger of spilling her secret around Sakura. Faced with her strength and beauty, with her kindness and curiosity, with the courage Ino herself had nurtured in her that first year they’d met—Ino constantly found the words she’d never given voice to on the tip of her tongue.

And every time, she’d swallowed them back down like a bitter pill.

Ino turned back to the field, where Naruto seemed to have noticed them.

“Bastard!” He yelled at Sasuke, waving his good hand. His grin, once again in place, was made slightly sharper with the edge of a taunt. “Who’s the loser now?”

Ino wondered if Sasuke heard the endearment in Naruto’s tone. She thought she saw Sasuke’s lips twitch.

Sakura had looked up at Naruto’s yell, her eyes searching the empty stands and coming to rest on them. Her smile seemed to widen, impossibly, and she unwound her arm from around Lee’s shoulders to wave at them, too. Ino wondered if the renewed warmth there was for her alone, if it could someday be for her alone. She _wanted_ so badly her chest hurt.

Instead of answering Naruto, Sasuke rolled his eyes and, with an offhand wave, made his way down the stands. To everyone else, the gesture no doubt appeared casual, a disregard. Ino, however, saw it for what it was: Sasuke was running away from the one challenge he couldn’t confront head-on.

“Oi!” Naruto shouted, but the Hufflepuffs around him were still in the midst of celebrating, and he and the rest of the team were the focal point of their high spirits. Not to mention, Naruto still needed a trip down to the infirmary, as soon as someone managed to extract him from the horde. He wouldn’t be able to go after Sasuke, not yet.

Ino sighed. Then, she caught Sakura’s gaze and held it for as long as she dared—which wasn’t long. Maybe five seconds, at most.

Still, it felt like a victory when Sakura didn’t look away, when her smile never wavered. It almost felt like Sakura was daring her to _do_ something, but Ino figured that was probably wishful thinking on her part, rose-colored lenses making her see what she wanted to see.

With a final wave, she turned to head after Sasuke, clutching this small victory close. It would have to be enough for today.

**Author's Note:**

> ino and sasuke friendship is wlw/mlm solidarity let them be friends 
> 
> also that one line about the nature of slytherin bravery was informed by [this post](https://tom-riddle-diary.tumblr.com/post/119677060442/awesomequacker-gryffindor-bravery-is-doing-the)
> 
> feedback/comments are always appreciated!  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/neiljortsens)


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